Maybe it’s the chalky Flintstone vitamins my mom used to make me take when I was a kid that gave me (quite literally) a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to stomaching supplements. Maybe it’s my struggle to implement new habits and actually stick to them within my ever-fluctuating schedule. Maybe it’s simply that I don’t even know where to start when it comes to figuring out what supplements I should be taking. No matter the reason (and I’m pretty sure all three of the aforementioned are equally responsible), I’ve never been good about taking supplements.

I know I’m supposed to, I know there are nutrients I’m deficient in (even if I don’t know what they are), and I know that I would feel better if I could just make supplement-taking a part of my daily routine. And yet, while I’m a physically active and relatively clean-eating 25-year-old, I have never successfully incorporated a supplement regimen into my lifestyle.  Until I tried Binto.

Binto is a personalized supplement prescription specifically crafted to support your reproductive health, no matter what phase of life you’re in, with monthly shipments of individually packaged vegan friendly, gluten-free, and GMP certified supplements delivered right to your door. Founded by Suzie Welsh, a nurse and women’s health advocate who spent many years working in an IVF clinic; Binto offers supplement programs for women seeking general wellness and period health, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause support, determining what’s best for you and your body through a comprehensive online quiz. Finally, a plan that could tell me what I need and make it easy and affordable for me to nourish myself with it, every day.

The quiz asked me personal questions about my diet, current lifestyle, age, past experience taking supplements, and the health issues I’m looking to improve upon, before asking if I’m pregnant or looking to become pregnant in the next 12 months. When I answered no, the questions seamlessly shifted into ones about my period regularity and symptoms. Based on my answers, the quiz determined that I needed 4 supplements:

• BINTO Bare Essential Multivitamin (twice a day), for my overall wellness, hormonal balance, energy, and hair, skin, and nail health.
• Probiotic for my gut health and mood.
• Digest-ease for digestive health.
• Vitamin B12 to fight fatigue and improve daily energy

I placed my personalized order based on their recommendations and, a few days later, my first month of Binto arrived at my door. It was really that simple. For a supplement newbie, the pamphlet of easy-digestible information about how and when to take each capsule was so helpful in getting me started, and seeing my name on each individually wrapped packet, as small a gesture as that is, made supplement taking a ritual I looked forward to each day. I take my supplements right after breakfast, and they go down easily and mostly taste-free with an 8-ounce glass of water.

While Binto quickly proved to me that it was possible to find a supplement routine and stick to it, I couldn’t help but be skeptical about whether or not I would feel a difference in not only my day-to-day wellness, but, most importantly, during my monthly period. For as long as I’ve been menstruating, I’ve experienced mood swings, painful cramps, bloating, and indigestion in the days leading up to my period, and throughout my actual period itself. Over the past year, my PMS has included sharp cramping that, at its worst, had me googling “what is wrong with me?” in the bathroom of the restaurant where I should have been celebrating my best friend’s birthday. But, as women all over the world do, I told myself that this is just something I’m going to have to deal with once a month. An unavoidable side effect of womanhood.

So, when last month’s period came and went pain-free, it took me only a moment to realize that the only thing in my life that had changed was 3 weeks of daily Binto supplements. My stomach wasn’t bloated, my energy levels stayed elevated, I wasn’t irrationally angry or moody, and the only clue I had that my period was inbound was the notification from the period-tracker app I maintain on my phone. Those sharp, painful cramps? My month with Binto showed me that rather than listening to them as my body’s cue that it was needing nutrients I wasn’t giving it, I just let them become an unwelcome part of my life. Something I once thought would take took much of my time and resources to incorporate into my routine only took a 3-minute quiz, a subscription starting at $20/month, and a daily reminder from my iPhone to “Take Today’s Binto With a Glass of Water.” I’d be embarrassed to admit that it took me so long to realize that such a simple and significant solution exists, if I weren’t so grateful to know it now.

I was still skeptical so I  took the next month off from my new supplement routine to determine how much credit I should actually give Binto for restoring my energy and relieving my uncomfortable periods. Let’s just say – I won’t be making that mistake again.